A President and a Precedent

No matter what side of the political spectrum you sit, it is undeniable that the 2008 Presidential election was an historical and pivotal step in America's history. Barack Obama has achieved a milestone that will mark a significant moment not only in my lifetime but in the course of American history. And regardless of who you may support, it is a great feeling to live through such a milestone bridging America's past and future in one single day. At last, this is the fullness of democracy at work.

But I don't write this as a political statement but as an observation. Living in Scotland during the course of the election, it gives a greater perspective on America's relation to the world. Following the election, I couldn't help but notice the number of people who wrote or said "This is the day for America-the day we can at last be proud of our neighbor." This election was a reaffirmation of the hope and beacon that America can be seen as in the world.

It is on the domestic front that this has become the new tide of history, writing a new chapter in the everchanging American saga, but it is a new and more promising day holding a hope for the tides of a true and genuine change within the global community. So I must say, being an American abroad, democracy has fulfilled its potential and the world has come to see a new day.